American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

American Century Companies Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,590,815 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 194,058 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $57,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cognex by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,784,239 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $72,262,000 after purchasing an additional 87,790 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,199,000 after buying an additional 42,292 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth $790,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 19.8% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 583,150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,618,000 after acquiring an additional 96,330 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $31.28 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.61. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 51.28 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.